Trans golfer Hailey Davidson denounces new LPGA Tour ban and those who stayed ‘silent’

Golfer Hailey Davidson has criticised the Ladies Professional Golf Association’s (LPGA) decision to ban trans women from female tournaments.

Taking effect from New Year’s Day, the ban covers the LPGA Tour, Epson Tour, Ladies European Tour and “all other elite LPGA competitions”.

The revised policy states that a player in the female category must be either assigned female at birth or, if they are transgender, “not experienced any part of male puberty”. In addition, any trans players eligible must have “continuously maintained the concentration of testosterone in their serum below 2.5 nmol/l”. The average for cis women is between 0.5 and 2.4 nmol/l.

Trans golfer Davidson responded to the ban by writing on Instagram: “Can’t say I didn’t see this coming. Banned from the Epson and the LPGA. All the silence and people wanting to stay ‘neutral’, thanks for absolutely nothing. This happened because of your silence.

“What a great birthday present for 2024, having the greatest achievement I’ve earned in my life taken from me.”

Outgoing LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan said: “Our policy is reflective of an extensive, science-based and inclusive approach. [It] represents our continued commitment to ensuring that all feel welcome within our organisation, while preserving the fairness and competitive equity of our elite competitions.”

Her predecessor Mike Whan told Sportsnet that the new policy was similar to ones in other sports such as swimming and athletics.

“It starts with competitive fairness as the North Star,” he said. “We tried not to get into politics or any of that stuff. We just simply said: ‘Where would somebody, at least medically today, have a competitive advantage in the field?’ And we needed to draw a line.

“We needed to be able to walk into any women’s event and say with confidence that nobody has a competitive advantage, based on their gender. This policy delivers that.”

The change comes after months of controversy around Davidson, a trans woman who competed in the LPGA Q-school in October but narrowly missed out on qualifying for the US Women’s Open. Her inclusion in the sport led to almost 300 female golfers signing an open letter to the LPGA calling for the repeal of its trans-inclusion policies.

In 2021, Davidson became the first trans golfer to win a professional women’s event and this is not the first time she has spoken out about the transphobia she has experienced.

The LPGA is the latest sporting body to exclude trans women from competition, or at least make it extremely difficult for them to take part.

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